The present invention relates to a coolant circuit for an internal combustion engine.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Coolant circuits are typically used in internal combustion engines for motor vehicles for cooling components of the internal combustion engine, for example cylinder heads and cylinder crankcases, to a different temperature level. An example of a coolant circuit involves a construction in two-circuit cooling configuration for an internal combustion engine having at least two cylinder banks in parallel relationship in V or W configuration. A V-configuration for example involves cylinder banks in opposite relation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,728 discloses a coolant circuit for a multi-cylinder internal-combustion engine constructed as a V-engine. A cooling jacket surrounds a cylinder head housing and a cylinder block and is supplied with cooling liquid by way of a pump. The cylinder cooling jacket and the cylinder head cooling space are provided with a connection for feeding the cooling liquid and with the cooling liquid flowing parallel through the cylinder head housing and the cylinder block. To more rapidly heat the cooling liquid in cooling jacket, the connection of the cylinder cooling jacket is blocked, while coolant flows through the cylinder head cooling space. This causes an undesired coolant movement in the cylinder cooling jacket as a result of cross-flows, thereby slowing down a heating of the cylinder block.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to address the problem of cross coolant flows and to obviate other prior art shortcomings.